re: Why oh why can't we have a J. J. Watt on D?

Because for the most part dynamic play makers go higher than we have been able to draft. The only recent draft where in hindsight they passed on better prospects was when they chose Jenkins over Cushing and Matthews. Every other draft the defensive play makers were already off the board, usually by 11 or 12 at the latest.

re: Why oh why can't we have a J. J. Watt on D? (Posted on 10/9/12 at 8:46 am to Suntiger)

Yep, they have done a great job building their defense through the draft IMO

It took GUTS to take Mario Williams #1 overall in the draft, considering the massive Reggie Bush hype and do not forget there was a Texas push to draft Vince Young at that slot as well....David Carr wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire....

bluesloverNew Orleans Saints Fansoon to be south of zeroMember since Sep 200720911 posts

re: Why oh why can't we have a J. J. Watt on D? (Posted on 10/9/12 at 8:48 am to noonan)

quote:Micky Loomis is an idiot, Spags sucks, Payton is overrated, Brees isnt that good, the game has changed, we'll never win anything, why dont we run it, where is Ivory?

sig quote worthy

amazing how those come in like a plague, then a few days pass, and you don't see those posters anymore

right on about it not only being Watt. Texas has made some serious personnel moves on D.

There has been plenty of personnel moves here. They just haven't been as sterling in results. If we draft one pass rusher like they pickon offense (Graham 3rd, Evans 4th, Nicks 5th, Colston 7th, etc) we would be set.

re: Why oh why can't we have a J. J. Watt on D? (Posted on 10/9/12 at 9:24 am to whodatfan)

I'll tell you why... the FO drafts players based on raw talent instead of the totality of the player. There is a reason that the defense is deplorable; there a lot of "athletes" on defense and not enough football players. That's why there are so many blown coverages and assignments. Football IQ is not being taken into consideration enough in the draft.

bluesloverNew Orleans Saints Fansoon to be south of zeroMember since Sep 200720911 posts

re: Why oh why can't we have a J. J. Watt on D? (Posted on 10/9/12 at 9:27 am to Shankopotomus)

quote:at some point Loomis and co. have to shoulder some blame. I give them credit, they have tried to address the defense in the draft - but have done a POOR job at evaluating talent IMO

For general managers Loomis isn't much on the personnel evaluation side at all. He is a bean counter that evolved to contract and salary cap manager. You can see the night and day difference of the kind of players drafted from Haz to Payton. This is cuz the picks are more the result of the rest of the staff than Loomis.

Payton himself is an offensive guru. I'm sure no pick is taken without his blessing. To a large degree he prolly leans strongly on the DCs preference tho. PRob was clearly a GW choice for example. It was a slight push as a pick but he was taken for his heavy man coverage experience.

Overall they haven't been nearly as good in the defensive picks tho. I count that more against the scouting staff and the DCs than Payton or Loomis.

re: Why oh why can't we have a J. J. Watt on D? (Posted on 10/9/12 at 11:33 am to infantry1026)

quote:the FO drafts players based on raw talent instead of the totality of the player. There is a reason that the defense is deplorable; there a lot of "athletes" on defense and not enough football players.

We haven't consistently drafted highly and we haven't taken lots of defensive players in early rounds. That being said, when we do, our picks are not usually considered "reaches".

And that was the point I was making about the Texans. When you draft 9 years worth of defensive players in the first round over 10 years. You'll end up with at least 3-4 good players. Especially if you are picking in the top 15.

re: Why oh why can't we have a J. J. Watt on D? (Posted on 10/9/12 at 11:49 am to SaintLSUnAtl)

quote:Seems like we have a lot of shitty luck and teams like the Texans have a lot of good luck. Hmmmm.....

Consider we rarely pick high and they were picking high for a while. Also consider they haven't drafted as well as you think. Watt and Cushing were excellent, but other than that they've been meh. Well, they also drafted Williams. That one was good but he isn't even on the team anymore.